When Should I Nighttime Potty Train?

Potty training your child when they’re awake during the day is a challenge in its own right, but getting them to use the bathroom when they wake up in the night is a different story altogether.

It can be a bit confusing to know how to proceed in this stage. We don’t want to encourage our little ones to go in their diaper, but we don’t want to put any unreasonable expectations on them either.

So today, I’ve got some great tips to help you recognize when your child is ready for nighttime potty training, and a little advice about whether or not to take that first step and ditch the diapers in the night.

One of the questions that I get asked when people start potty training their children is when should I start thinking about nighttime training?

Now, nighttime potty training comes way after daytime potty training. We are not even really going to start worrying about nighttime potty training until we’re at least six months in.

Now this has a lot to do with just biology. For a lotta kids, their bodies are just not developed enough to send those messages to the brain stimulating a wake up if you have to use the toilet in the night. That comes with time. And there’s really nothing to be worrying about at this phase. I would way rather see a child wearing a pull-up or even a diaper to bed than getting up in the night.

I have lots of people email me and tell me that they wake up their child before they go to bed so that he doesn’t have an accident. And that breaks my hart a little bit. I really wanna tell you. You know me, and you know that sleep is so important and having consolidated nighttime sleep is absolutely the best kind of sleep to have.

So my dream for everybody is that we sleep consolidatedly through the night, we do not get up to drink water, we do not get up to use the bathroom. The nights that you sleep through, and you know, you’re gonna have a little partial awakening here and there, that’s normal. But those nights where you feel like you slept through are the best nights. Those are the best quality nights that you’re gonna have. And we know that childhood is the one time in our life when sleep is absolute perfection. Sleep, unfortunately, deteriorates the older we get. But in childhood, it is sheer perfection.

So I get a little sad when I hear that kids are being woken in the night to be dragged off to the bathroom because I know that what they should be doing is having a solid, consolidated night without any wake-ups. So if you’re finding yourself in that boat where you’re waking up a child to use the toilet, my advice is to stop! Just let it go. Put them in a pull-up, put them in a big enough diaper, I mean, diapers now go all the way to six, even. So put them in a big enough diaper that any accident is going to be contained. Get some plastic for the mattress so nothing gets ruined. And just let it go.

I would way rather have a child sleep through the night than get up to use the toilet. If you have to wake them it means they’re not ready. They should be able to wake themselves up if they need to use the toilet bad enough.

Also, have a look at consumption before bed. If your child’s drinking a big glass of milk or lots of water right before bed, try minimizing some of that, have them use the bathroom a couple of times in the hour before bed, all of these things will help. But I guess my best advice here is to just relax. Not worry so much about nighttime training and just let your children sleep.

Thanks for watching today. Sleep well!

Why wait? Try out my No-Sweat Potty Training Program and get started today! The sooner you get the process started, the sooner you can bid farewell to diapers and baby wipes, and you and your child can both celebrate your new-found independence.

Comments

Happy Parents

Why didn't we try this sooner?! As we speak he is sound asleep in his crib - and has been since 7.15 pm. We are so pleased to get the evenings to ourselves again, and Tinius - who has always been a very happy boy - is even more happy now!*

- Karianne Wanggaard

I would like to say a huge 'Thank You' to you. Your system is well explained and well researched and has worked wonders in our house. It is like Hana is saying 'Thank You Mammy - I really needed this', she is so happy since we began.*

- Fiona O'Connor

I must say the program is nothing short of a miracle... our little baby was 5 1/2 months when we did it... and it's changed all of our lives.. I didn't have much faith to be honest... but it all unfolded as your book indicated, much to our delight. Ryder sleeps thru the nite and naps like a baby! Prior, he was up to nurse 4-5 times a nite and had never really slept in his crib during the day to nap... I had to either rock him or nap with him on me... turns out the little guy loves to be in his crib!*

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Happy Parents

Why didn’t we try this sooner?! As we speak he is sound asleep in his crib – and has been since 7.15 pm. We are so pleased to get the evenings to ourselves again, and Tinius – who has always been a very happy boy – is even more happy now!*

– Karianne Wanggaard

I would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to you. Your system is well explained and well researched and has worked wonders in our house. It is like Hana is saying ‘Thank You Mammy – I really needed this’, she is so happy since we began.*

– Fiona O’Connor

I must say the program is nothing short of a miracle… our little baby was 5 1/2 months when we did it… and it’s changed all of our lives.. I didn’t have much faith to be honest… but it all unfolded as your book indicated, much to our delight. Ryder sleeps thru the nite and naps like a baby! Prior, he was up to nurse 4-5 times a nite and had never really slept in his crib during the day to nap… I had to either rock him or nap with him on me… turns out the little guy loves to be in his crib!*